November Awaits.
Good Morning Peeps,
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And so we reach yet one more Monday.
Was your weekend a good one…I certainly hope so.
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My life is about to become very restricted again, as we have the painters coming back today to do a couple of weeks work, on the inside of the house this time!
As I have said previously, it can be quite stressful, but it will be good to get everything up to date and tidy.
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With Big H being so unwell for so long, everything is way shabby.
But after all, what is two weeks in the scheme of things, especially if it brings fine improvements.
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For some reason Amsterdam has sprung to mind again.
We had so many different experiences while we were there, one of which I have already mentioned in the Blog: Bad Shit In Amsterdam.
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Another day I remember was the day we got up early and enjoyed our usual breakfast of a hard boiled egg each, along with a huge platter of different breads and a big plate of various meats.
We always seemed to amuse the owner by going to him every morning, to ask for our teapot to be refilled, halfway through breakfast.
No one else ever did and he seemed to find the amount of tea we drank to be hilarious.
He would fetch the newly refilled teapot to our table, and put it down with great reverence, before walking away laughing and waving his hands while saying “English! “English! all the way back to his serving counter.
We thought that it was funny too…anything to make people laugh!
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We did a lot of wandering around because we did not have a much money, but you definitely get to know a place best in that fashion.
Eventually we came across a huge, cobbled square that I found very evocative, and for some reason it was also very empty.
The only people in sight were two ladies coming across the square towards us, linking arms.
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As they got nearer and nearer, they also seemed to get taller and taller.
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When they eventually passed us I was stunned to find that they were both well over six feet tall, and towering over Big H and I, their massive high heels clicking smartly on the cobbles.
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They were wearing tightly waisted leather suits, one in calf length trousers and the other in a tiny mini skirt, and with the most fabulous pair of endless legs.
They had beautiful blonde wigs and immaculate makeup.
I was stunned by them!
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Once they had passed us by, I turned back for just another look, and found tht the first shock of seeing such a fabulous sight was somewhat ameliorated by the very obvious bright red impression of a toilet seat…deeply imprinted into the thighs of the blonde in the mini skirt.
Obviously the result of a very long dump, a read of the paper, and possibly a few spliffs, before grabbing the patent handbag and coming out to put it about a bit.
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One day I shall no doubt draw upon that very fine memory for my artwork.
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We also came across a most beautiful, tiny piece of grass which was surrounded by a low wall.
We gratefully sat down on the wall for a rest, and were amazed to see the most beautiful bronze lizards attached to the stone in different places.
They were large and beautifully worked.
I totally enjoyed that moment too!
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We walked forever that day.
We even went along a street which seemed to last for miles and everything up to about six feet above the pavement was covered in bright graffiti.
I do not mind good graffiti but I was somewhat taken aback to find that it was unbroken, and covered all the windows, as well as the doors.
I had not seen anything like that before either!
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Eventually, tired out, we headed in what we thought was the direction of the hotel.
It was now beginning to get dark.
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We were happily walking down what seemed to be a normal shopping street, full of people, and having a good chat about our day, when we suddenly realized that everyone else was gone.
Outside of the closed shops were many black rubbish bags, and small, dark men were slitting the bags open with knives.
Some of them were looking back at us.
OH-OH!
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We calmly (but not on the inside) turned away and walked smartly back to a bright street.
I don’t know what that was all about but it was scary in the extreme.
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When we finally got back, the owner asked us what we had been doing and where we had been.
We tried to tell him, so he put a map covered in plastic onto the counter, and asked us “Where?”
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When we showed him, he was horrified, and said that no tourists must go there, had we not seen the warning posters all over the place.
We said yes, we thought that they had a handbag with a cross over it, but we could not read them.
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He told us off, and made us promise to go somewhere that he recommended the next day.
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And we did!
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Love,
J
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